Thursday 5th May: (to date, 32 miles and 4,220 ft)

Standedge to Ponden Reservoir.

Today Alan is resting and my companions are Alex and Molly. The weather forecast looks good but rain is expected later on..and this is the first of the LONG days!

I have used a number of internet sites to determine the stopping points each day.There is the 23 day route, the 21 day, the 19 day and the 16 day route.I have decided to merge some of the days to make a 15 day route.

It's 9.10am and we are off crossing a "rope bridge" across the M62 ( I don't look down!) Most campsites are in valleys, so that you start your day with a climb, but Standedge is high and the start is smooth and gets our walking rhythm going. But then we start climbing along Blackstone Edge and then head downwards on the Old Packhorse Rd. Down to the White Horse Inn, but too early for a drink!

After about 3 miles we reach another group of reservoirs, what is the collective name for reservoirs we ask each other? Five reservoirs before we start to walk the ridge in front of us, with views over Rochdale and Manchester. Ahead we can see Stoodley Pike Monument, built to celebrate the defeat of Napolean in 1814. A massive object. But we must press on and after 3 miles of descent we reach Charleston, near Hebden Bridge, where we are meeting for lunch with Annie and Alan. Yes, there they are and have heated up pieces of pizza and fruit for lunch. Lying on the ground in the sun seems so relaxing but we must get going...another 11 miles before we finish today at Ponden Reservoir. More expletives from Alex..but on he climbs stoically!

The first climb of the afternoon is short but murderous, up through some lovely old cottages. Having climbed several hundred feet, we go down several hundred feet, to...then go up several hundred feet!

Alex thinks he is going to be sick again if this continues, but is then diverted by seeing lamb twins being born. It all looked so sweet until the Mother ate the placenta! Alex was definately going to be sick and certainly couldn't face lasagne in the evening! After that the lapwings were great to watch.

As we appoached Walshaw Resevoir, a huge black cloud came over, we got as far as Walshaw Middle Dam before the" stair rods" started. We were in true Bronte Country now and by the time we got to Top Within, aka Wuthering Heights, we were truly drenched. Cathy and Heathcliffe, ( Molly and I ????possibly!).... Alex certainly wasn't interested in the romantic story...

From here we splodged our way down the slopes to Ponden Reservoir and thankfully there was Horace. A 20 min drive back to the campsite; Alex wanted a bowl of rice crispies and a rest on the bed; Molly was warming through a lasagne for our supper. Suffice to say that after 22 miles and 3,162 feet today, Alex was asleep by 8pm, and Molly just about lasted uintil 9pm!!

Only Annie and I rose early the next day, as this was an even longer day.